SAVANNAH, Ga. — Following the historic 2019 season, Savannah State football is gearing up for the highly-anticipated 2020 season.
The Tigers released the 2020 schedule today, marking the program’s 118th year of competition. Savannah State football first played on Thanksgiving Day, 1902.
The 2020 schedule features six home games, four of which are Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) matchups. The Tigers returned to the SIAC in 2019 and NCAA Division II. They competed in the conference from 1969 to 1999 before elevating to NCAA Division I.
After opening the season with a non-conference road game against Livingstone College on Sept. 12, the Tigers will host a five-game home streak through the end of September and most of October. Savannah State faces SIAC foes, Central State (Sept. 19), Morehouse College (Sept. 26), and Benedict College (Oct.3) in consecutive home games.
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On Oct. 10, the Tigers will host Virginia University of Lynchburg in a non-conference bout. Savannah State will celebrate homecoming on Oct. 17 against SIAC opponent, Clark Atlanta University.
For the final two weeks of October, Savannah State will travel to Albany and Fort Valley, Georgia, respectively, to face two of the program’s oldest rivals, Albany State University (Oct. 24) and Fort Valley State University (Oct. 31) in key SIAC games.
The Tigers will close out the 2020 season on Nov. 7 in Theodore A. Wright Stadium against non-conference opponent Edward Waters College.
Savannah State concluded the historic 2019 season with a 49-19 rout of Edward Waters on Nov. 9 last year. They finished the 2019 season 7-3 overall, the best regular-season record for the program since 1998. The Tigers went undefeated against SIAC foes, winning all five games.
The last team to finish with a flawless conference record were the 1998 Tigers, who went 8-1 under legendary head coach William “Bill” Davis. In similar fashion to the 2019 Tigers, that team was also ineligible for post-season play.
Savannah State had initially scheduled a game against Florida Tech University on September 5. Florida Tech announced the elimination of its football program, effectively immediately, on May 11. The date is set tentatively as open on the Tigers’ schedule.
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